Missing Vin

 The great Vin Scully has died. "Missing Vin" was the title of my presentation at the Baseball in Literature and Culture Conference in 2017.

Missing vin (1) from Osopher

He was the consummate baseball voice. But, the Times obit notes, 

he also drew on the world beyond the diamond. On June 6, 2015, the 71st anniversary of D-Day, he offered vignettes from the invasion of Normandy and told how J.D. Salinger came ashore at Utah Beach with several chapters of his uncompleted novel “The Catcher in the Rye” amid his gear.

Mr. Scully savored his connection with successive generations of baseball fans.

“One of the nicest residual effects of this job is to have people say to me, ‘You know, when I hear your voice I think of summer nights with my dad in the backyard and a barbecue,’ or ‘I can remember fishing with Dad,’ or ‘I remember Mom and Dad taking me somewhere and I heard the game,’” he told The Daily News of Los Angeles in 2007. “It’s a nice feeling. I really do love that.”

I've been to exactly one game at Dodger Stadium in my life. It was on June 6, 2015, and I very distinctly remember eating a Dodger Dog before the game with Older Daughter behind that big logo in the upper deck and listening to Vin spin those vignettes in his inimitably compelling style. He had the Ken Burns touch, elevating the game and connecting with it in ways that also elevated his listeners.

And recalling that day, that dog, that wonderful memory of being with Older Daughter as she began her life in LA...  Well, I really do love that too.